"Cheap" ways (items) of Fast Travel?

[Firechanter]

Hey Playgrounders,

I'd like to have -- for RP reasons mostly, not to break the game or anything -- a way that allows my character to move around between cities quickly, without bothering his teammates to teleport him or anything.
It would suffice to be able to cover 120mi. / 200km in a relatively short time (say, 2 hours tops) once per day.
Now I know about items like Boots of Teleportation but they are already rather overkill, at 900mi range 3/day. Since I only need a fraction of that performance, and as mentioned just for fluff reasons, I'd prefer not to blow 50K of my WBL on the stunt.
So my question iiiiis, are there any items that offer what I desire at a lower, preferably much lower price tag?

I might be able to talk my GM into letting me procure something like "Lesser Boots of Teleportation" that only work 1/day for 1/3 of the price. So we'd be looking at something like 16K.

Another option might be a Helm of the Valkyrie, that lets me summon a CL14 Phantom Steed, and also costs 16K.
Such a summon could, while Running, cover the required distance in about 3 hours (or a bit less if it has the Run feat). So, not ideal but would work in a pinch.

That's pretty much all I was able to find.
Can we do better than that? ^^

[Rennora]

Get a Wayfinder for 500g.
Ger 100 Dull Gray Ioun Stones for 25g each. (Alternatively roll randomly until you get 87). Look at Method 2. If your Wayfinder doesn't make the save, get another one.

Look at #87 Teleport 1/week to a location designated at the time of the stone’s creation.


It's how to get to one location on the cheap anyway.

[Firechanter]

Okay, that's a real cool trick. ^^
However, afaik we're using Method #1 in our game. It doesn't seem to be intended to switch back and forth between methods.

[Yanisa]

Another option might be a Helm of the Valkyrie, that lets me summon a CL14 Phantom Steed, and also costs 16K.
Such a summon could, while Running, cover the required distance in about 3 hours (or a bit less if it has the Run feat). So, not ideal but would work in a pinch.

Add Horse of Speed for 3k gold to increase it's speed by 30 feet? It makes the steed it 30% faster and reaching your goal in a bit more then 2 hours.

All other options I can think of are more expensive then 20k. I was thinking of teleport circles or costume magic items, but teleportation is expensive.

[Firechanter]

Okay, so those seem to be pretty much the only options.
Well, guess it will just have to wait a while, currently there's too much on the WBL backburner that I need. Seeing how even with in-party crafting I prolly won't get away with less than 8K, I'll have to put it off until those 8K are just pettycash.

[Fizban]

The Cloak of Mysterious Emergence (Dragon Magic) is a steal at 13k, capable of a 1/day teleport but also letting you have three medium range dimension doors on days when you don't want the full tp.

If you can make weird cherry picked custom items and get favorable rulings, you might able to do something else. Take a look at Boots of the Wanderer (Complete Champion), and notice that it appears to give you the ability to run all day. Make a set of Horeshoes of Speed and Wandering (5,250gp), and you can ride a light horse at a speed of 36mph. The final speed boost after that is Wind at Back (Spell Compendium), which just doubles overland speed of a group for 12 hours, which if applied to this running speed would let you reach 72mph (or a 64mph with a 50' base beefier mount). A 1/day item at formula price would be 10,800, so if you can't get someone to cast Wind at Back this is still more expensive, but you might be able to negotiate a price break on the Wind at Back item because it normally affects 1 creature/level.

[Firechanter]

I'm afraid all those are 3.5 material, and we don't use that in our PF game. :/ But I might be able to wiggle it by the GM regardless.

[Jack_Simth]

Pathfinder fast travel options...

120 miles to cover, 2 hours to do it. Needs 60 mph.

Let's see...

Get a light horse.
Kill it.
Animate it as a Bloody Skeleton.
Attach Horseshoes of Speed.

You now have a mount that can run, full out, constantly. 50 foot base speed, +30 Enhancement to base speed, *4 for running (loses run feat) = 32 mph, so you get it in a little under 4 hours.


A Lesser Ring of Revelation (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/rings/ring-of-revelation/) could get you the Solar Mystery's (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/oracle/mysteries/paizo-oracle-mysteries/solar-mystery/) Astral Caravan ability... and with a DC 24 UMD check to make yourself seem a 4th level Oracle, you could get 50 mph for 4 hours. Sadly, FAQ killed this. Oh well.

The Strand of Prayer Beads, Greater (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/a-b/beads-prayer-strand/) gives you Wind Walk (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/w/wind-walk) 1/day (if you UMD it, but just DC 20) which does 60 mph flight.

[ericgrau]

I might be able to talk my GM into letting me procure something like "Lesser Boots of Teleportation" that only work 1/day for 1/3 of the price. So we'd be looking at something like 16K.
That's perfectly reasonable. It requires DM approval, but this is exactly the kind of abuse-free application the custom item creation guidelines were made for. If anything he might reasonably make you locate a high level NPC to craft it over the span of 1 day per 1k in price.

It's not in the guidelines but I likewise think it's reasonable to make it self-only (plus non-living carried gear) for 1/2 the price. Just my guestimate. Or whatever discount your DM agrees to. I reverse engineered the price on the boots and it seems like the intent was to allow it to do everything the original spell does, including allies. So less targets should reasonably give a discount.

Looking at limited range teleport spells, it doesn't seem like you can get much for sacrificing range. So if I were the DM I wouldn't allow much of a discount for limited either. It makes sense, because even a teleport that gets you only a few miles away is enough to buy you the time to rest up and travel anywhere else in the world anyway.

So... final answer: talk to the DM, find an NPC wizard, 8k-ish gp IMO (or however your DM adjusts for self-only). 1/day self only, otherwise as the spell.

[Zaq]

Huh. I was all set to suggest Shadow Walk as a lower-level alternative to Teleport, but for some reason, it seems that Shadow Walk is actually a higher spell level than Teleport? Bizarre, if you ask me. Are there any items that work like Shadow Walk for cheaper than Teleport, given that Teleport appears to be better than Shadow Walk in the majority of ways that are most relevant?

[Jack_Simth]

Huh. I was all set to suggest Shadow Walk as a lower-level alternative to Teleport, but for some reason, it seems that Shadow Walk is actually a higher spell level than Teleport? Bizarre, if you ask me. Are there any items that work like Shadow Walk for cheaper than Teleport, given that Teleport appears to be better than Shadow Walk in the majority of ways that are most relevant?
Shadow Walk lets you take more people, travel the planes, and has no familiarity requirement. Beats Teleport for some things, just not same plane travel to somewhere you've been.

[Alexvrahr]

If you're an alchemist or investigator with alchemical allocation then an elixir of shadewalking is 3 500 gp. Usually one use but not for you. You might be able to get a wand of alchemical allocation for 6 000 gp.

Specific oracles can get fast movement at quite low level. Level dip in solar oracle or just make a friend or two.

Plane shift, twice, can move you a long way if with little accuracy.

The cheetah's sprint spell moves you 10x your speed for 1 round. A wand of it (750 gp) would get you a long way if you have a decent speed, or an animal companion mount to share spells with.

[Fizban]

I'm afraid all those are 3.5 material, and we don't use that in our PF game. :/ But I might be able to wiggle it by the GM regardless.
My bad, didn't notice the Pathfinder tag and nothing else differentiated it.

[Florian]

Ok, a bit tricky. More concrete, the choice of items to base a potential custom item on and the exact formula to use will be a problem, especially when we're talking about RP purposes.

So, a bit of brainstorming: A Visage of the Bound clocks in at 22K gp, needs a summon spell to power up, but gives the wearer access to all SLAs of the summons, mostly including greater teleport at will for most of the major outsider races. To stay completely mundane, a Brimstone Barbazu would cost 3,3K and is able to power the mask.

Ok, this gives us sorta-kinda baseline how much this could cost at full effectiveness without resorting to the regular calculation based on Teleport, Greater Teleport or Word of Recall.

Personally, I´d go with the "candle" approach and price it in the range of a Candle of Invocation. So, wondrous item, 10 charges, each one keyed to a specific place in city and needs 10 minutes of burning, smoking and inhaling the incense (or something) to activate a Word of Recall effect. Should clock in at around 4K.

[Firechanter]

A Lesser Ring of Revelation (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/rings/ring-of-revelation/) could get you the Solar Mystery's (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/oracle/mysteries/paizo-oracle-mysteries/solar-mystery/) Astral Caravan ability... and with a DC 24 UMD check to make yourself seem a 4th level Oracle, you could get 50 mph for 4 hours. Sadly, FAQ killed this. Oh well.


That might actually work. We generally don't use FAQs or other so-called "errata" by default at our table. Seeing how the ring is from UE, and we have that book at the table (i.e., we use them when we think they make sense), I might be able to use it as printed.

Come to think of it -- I plan to upgrade my headband to +2 Int for UMD ranks anyway, mostly for Wand use, but am beginning to wonder what other shenanigans I might pull off with the skill.
For instance, I own a Bane Baldric but have no Inqui levels so I get just the 5 rounds per day. Now with UMD, could I emulate Inqui levels to get a lot more rounds out of the baldric? ^^



So... final answer: talk to the DM, find an NPC wizard, 8k-ish gp IMO (or however your DM adjusts for self-only). 1/day self only, otherwise as the spell.

Yup, that would be a great solution. Was wondering if there was some rule for self-only limitations but couldn't find anything either.


My bad, didn't notice the Pathfinder tag and nothing else differentiated it.

No problem, happened to me before.

FWIW, my character is a Paladin of Abadar, so once I hit 13th level I can prep Word of Recall, but only for the trip home. That's still way to go though, just hit level 10 and currently we're not up to WBL. Hopefully that will change after the current adventure though. It would be so easy if I could just prep Word of Recall regularly, without the "home temple" requirement. ^^

[Florian]

@Firechanter:

Ah, so your character could activate a Wand of Summon Monster III/IV? Then do yourself the favor and grab said Visage of the Bound and power it up using an Archon or Angel.

Edit: UMD is not very clear about certain things. The rules tend to get wonky or break down in some cases, like for example when an item provides basic functionality, so is already active, but you want to active a class-specific use case, then things start to fall apart. For example, that is what generally happens when an item gives you a class ability or improves an existing class ability. Let´s say those bracers that either give a virtual 4 levels to an already existing Smite Evil, or give the Smite Evil ability of a 4th level Paladin. It´s either/or. You could use UMD to simulate being a Paladin, so you would use "improve", not "add", but then you'd have no actual class feature to target.

[Jack_Simth]

That might actually work. We generally don't use FAQs or other so-called "errata" by default at our table. Seeing how the ring is from UE, and we have that book at the table (i.e., we use them when we think they make sense), I might be able to use it as printed.

Come to think of it -- I plan to upgrade my headband to +2 Int for UMD ranks anyway, mostly for Wand use, but am beginning to wonder what other shenanigans I might pull off with the skill.

There's lots. If Rings of Revelation are on the table, then the Lesser ones are cheap, and there's a LOT of useful things you can get out of them. Battlefield Clarity, Surprising Charge, and War Sight (Battle Mystery) all go well on many characters. There's several that give a daily free Commune spell. While you'll need to go up a step from the lesser ring, the Lunary Mystery includes "Form of the Beast" which is basically a 1/day upgraded wildshape (permits magical beasts). The Dragon mystery gets you Dragon Magic (a few Sor/Wiz spell-likes), Dragon Senses (Darkvision, blindsense, low light vision, scent), Wings of the Dragon (Flight), and Form of the Dragon (Wildshape into a dragon, basically). There's... probably a reason that was killed by FAQ.

For instance, I own a Bane Baldric but have no Inqui levels so I get just the 5 rounds per day. Now with UMD, could I emulate Inqui levels to get a lot more rounds out of the baldric? ^^That is... a question for your DM.

The Bane Baldric (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/a-b/baldric-bane/) makes you treated as an Inquisitor of 5 levels higher for two specific abilities. So arguably, if you UMD to be treated as a 10th level Inquisitor, you might pick up the Greater Bane Ability and do 15 rounds.

However... other than the "If the wearer is not an inquisitor" clause, it's not granting the ability, it's simply increasing the ability. For that specific instance, I personally would be inclined to say "Doesn't do what you're after" as the Baldric only grants five rounds even for an inquisitor, and has no language about granting the Greater Bane ability if you don't have it.

[Firechanter]

Uh-huh... yeah I see. ^^
Well, if it doesn't work that way with the baldric, and also if the Ring thing is OP, that's no big deal -- I got along fine without so far, so no reason to start looking for exploits now.

I might also consider dipping into Oracle. So far I haven't really pursued that avenue because I feel that the Oradin is a kind of power-build that we simply don't need at our table. Of course, the temptation grows as the game progresses. ;)

[Florian]

Really?

I mean, the Paladin is a damn strong core class and once things get moving a bit, I would be pretty disinclined to delay them. 10th level is when litanies begin to be real options and the oaths start to shine, especially Vengeance, with Wrath capping at CL 12th.

Personally, I can stand a 1Paladin/1Oracle built-up right from the start until 4/4, simply because the added O spells can bridge the gap in performance, but late entry into Oradin? *Shudder*

[Firechanter]

Yeah, right now would be a bad time. I could imagine late entry at Pal8/Ora1 but that ship has sailed. Then after level 13 might be another entry point b/c Pals don't get a lot of new stuff after that.

For me, getting Angelic Aspect at level 10 is kinda the big draw. Greater AA is certainly also nice but prolly not as crucial.

I have never used Wrath yet btw. It's rather pointless as we have Good Hope up most of the time. At level 12 (Or 13?) that might change due to the Keen effect.

[Florian]

Hm.... the big question is, does your gm allow retraining, especially into VMC Oracle?

[Firechanter]

VMC? Very... Much... Charisma? xD

Ah, I guess you mean Variant Multiclassing. We haven't talked about retraining yet, but I don't think it would be out of the question as such. The bigger question here really would be if VMC is on the table.
And if so, the next question would be why I would want that. And even given that, which feats I'd want to lose or delay for that.

So, which options would be the big draws here?

[Florian]

Well, Paladin is one of those classes that can work with a very small footprint, when it comes to feats.
Grab a No-Dachi/Falchion and be done, basically a three feat investment, rest can go towards Extra Mercy/Ultimate Mercy... or VMC.

So VMC Oracle is actually pretty much of a gain here, no level loss and while you don't get to qualify for certain feats, the item range is still pretty much open to you.

[Elkad]

Are you trying to go between two fixed locations?
Because I'd give a deal on a custom item that teleported between them, but nowhere else, especially if it wasn't portable. (Magic archway linking two houses)

I'd put that in the 5k gp range, assuming it only works once per day (so you can't make the return trip the same day).

[Firechanter]

Hmmmmh.
Okay to recap, my current build is as follows: Fey Foundling, Greater Mercy, Power Attack, Additional Traits, Cornugon Smash, Hurtful.

So basically I have invested 3 (2.5, actually) feats into the Hurtful combo - and boy that's _really_ paying off. Thanks to Fey Foundling / Greater Mercy I can accumulate a few rounds of damage before using a LoH, so I have a lot of Swifts to spare for Hurtful. And as long as I heal myself, my LoH are currently worth around 300 extra HP per day.
For level 11, I'm looking at Dazing Assault, mainly to shut down spellcasters, but there are a few contenders. Ultimate Mercy is also a possibility, but probably more for NPCs and RP reasons, so, hum.

My main weapon is a bastard sword which may sound sub-optimal, but I carry it in a Bane Baldric which translates to (roughly) up to 250 extra damage per day. A Falchion with Improved Crit might look better on paper but I couldn't use it with the baldric.

So far the build is simple but super effective. If I start messing with it to squeeze in VMC, it may all come apart. Sacrifice the Hurtful line, my damage output drops considerably. Drop the LoH boosters, I have to use more Swifts to stay in the fight, thus can use Hurtful less often, my damage output drops. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So long story short, I'd have to have really a pretty good idea why I'd want to reskill into VMC. ^^

Edit:
AKSHUALLY...
VMC might actually be easier to squeeze in than I thought.
Since it just says "choose a Mystery", I can only assume that this also gives me the extra class skills of the chosen Mystery.
That alone would save me two traits --> Ta-daa, one feat already paid for.
Then I could sacrifice Greater Mercy and take a slight hit to my LoH sandvich, but otherwise, I'd be good to go.
Since my planned level 11 feat isn't _that_ urgent, well, no big deal.
Hm!

[Firechanter]

Are you trying to go between two fixed locations?
Because I'd give a deal on a custom item that teleported between them, but nowhere else, especially if it wasn't portable. (Magic archway linking two houses)

I'd put that in the 5k gp range, assuming it only works once per day (so you can't make the return trip the same day).

Mostly that, yes. Any versatility with the locations would be just gravy.

[ericgrau]

Yup, that would be a great solution. Was wondering if there was some rule for self-only limitations but couldn't find anything either.

I doubt there is such a guideline. Except for the general guideline of go with whatever price makes the item a hard choice. If every player from now on starts taking the self-only version over the multi-target version, then the DM made it too cheap. If no one takes the self only version even when they don't often need multiple targets, then the DM made it too expensive.

Likewise for other limitations you and the DM agree on. Like the restriction to 2 locations is good because using the above logic it is neither nearly the same price as the regular nor worthless, so it's reasonable to give it an ok discount.